Gallup: "Yoon and ruling party support ↓, Democratic Party ↑... 48% say opposition must be majority in next year's general election"

President Yoon's Approval Rating at 33%
People Power Party Support at 32%, Democratic Party at 31%
36% Say Ruling Party Must Win Majority in General Election

President Yoon Suk-yeol and the People Power Party's approval ratings for government performance have declined. The Democratic Party's approval rating has increased. Regarding next year's general election, public opinion favoring the opposition party becoming the majority was higher than that favoring the ruling party becoming the majority. Public expectations for the new party appeared to be lukewarm.

According to Gallup's regular survey conducted from the 1st to the 3rd (a telephone interview survey of 1,003 adults aged 18 and over nationwide), President Yoon's approval rating for government performance recorded 33%, down 2 percentage points from the previous week. Negative evaluations that he is performing poorly increased by 1 percentage point to 56%.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Looking at approval ratings by political orientation, 65% of conservatives, 25% of moderates, and 10% of progressives responded positively.

In the survey asking about party support, the People Power Party received 32%, the Democratic Party 31%, the Justice Party 4%, and the non-affiliated (無黨) group without a preferred party accounted for 32%. While the People Power Party's support dropped by 3 percentage points, the Democratic Party's support rose by 2 percentage points.

Regarding next year's general election, 36% of respondents believed the ruling party should hold the majority, while 48% believed the opposition party should hold the majority. By age group, those aged 60 and over favored a ruling party victory (government support theory), whereas those aged 50 and under favored an opposition party victory (government check theory). By political orientation, 72% of conservatives expected a ruling party victory, and 80% of progressives expected an opposition party victory. Among moderates, more favored an opposition party victory (49%) than a ruling party victory (31%). Among the non-affiliated group, 41% wanted an opposition party victory, while 22% wanted a ruling party victory.

Gallup explained, "In the March survey, government support theory (42%) and check theory (44%) were nearly equal, but in April, the check theory became dominant and has remained so for five consecutive months. The contrasting tendencies between respondents aged 50 and under and those aged 60 and over have been consistent across seven surveys."

In a survey on favorability toward political parties, favorability toward the People Power Party was 30% (unfavorable 61%), the Democratic Party 30% (unfavorable 61%), and the Justice Party 19% (unfavorable 64%). Compared to the previous survey, favorability toward the People Power Party dropped by 3 percentage points, while favorability toward the Democratic Party and Justice Party remained the same.

Public opinion toward the new party before the general election was not favorable. Those viewing it positively accounted for 28%, while those viewing it negatively were 55%. Regarding the new party's potential, only 15% responded that it has growth potential, while 70% said it does not.

For detailed survey methodology and results related to the poll, please refer to the Central Election Poll Deliberation Commission website.